Just a Dream
by waitwhaaat
Summary: Were the past 8 years really just a dream?
1. Chapter 1

_*AN - Hey team, so I know this specific idea is not necessarily original. However, it's one of those ideas that I personally love reading over and over again to get different takes and to enjoy different authors styles; so this is mine. If you're over this idea, then don't bother reading. As always, any critique is welcomed. Thanks!_

_This story begins during TOW Ross Finds Out during Season 2. There is a scene that was cut from syndication but is available on the full release DVDs where Monica and Chandler are running outside of Central Perk (this is the episode where Monica tries to help Chandler get in shape). Chandler stops to take a breath, and when Monica tries to physically pull him to keep running they get into a small scuffle that results in Monica pushing Chandler to the ground. Truly a hilarious scene - comedy at its best, but for the sake of my story its going to have to be a lot less funny. Monica pushes Chandler to the ground a little too hard, Chandler falls, hits his head, and the world goes dark. Don't worry, there will be no death to Chandler by way of clumsiness. This story will center around why and how his subconscious managed to take Chandler into the future while he was out cold, playing out the next 8 years like a dream, and what happens when he wakes up to find that none of it really happened. _

**The Dreaming Tree**

**_Now progress takes away _**

**_What forever took to find _**

**_And now he's falling hard _**

**_He feels the falling dark _**

**_How he longs to be _**

**_Beneath his dreaming tree _**

**_- Dave Matthews _**

Chandler could hear a faint beeping sound and wondered sleepily how long his alarm had been going off. He tried to move to hit the snooze button but realized that his arm seemed unable to move, it felt as though it was being weighed down by a ton of bricks. In fact, now that he was aware of it, his whole body felt like it was beneath a ton of bricks, he was even struggling to open his eyelids. Chandler felt a brief wave of panic, but realized that even evoking any sense of strong emotion was costing him quite a bit of energy he didn't seem to have. He let go of his panic, and focused all of his energy on just opening his eyes. It took him several moments, but Chandler succeeded, and was soon blinking his eyelids as rapidly as he could to make sure that they were still working and to regain the sense of feeling that had moments before been gone. As his vision cleared, Chandler realized he did not know where he was. It was a room, but not one he recognized, and as he tried to piece it all together he realized that his mind was working slower than normal, almost as though he had had too much to drink. The room was too bright, he couldn't make out what anything was. The faint beeping persisted somewhere around him, but Chandler ignored it and instead tried to remember where he was and why he was there. What was the last thing he remembered? He had gone to bed late because Monica had insisted on getting everything unpacked…he had moved…the new house…the twins…it slowly started to trickle forward from somewhere in the back of his mind, and Chandler remembered. He had been dog tired after what had felt like the longest 72 hours of his life. Thursday Chandler and Monica had taken Erica to the hospital because she went into labor, Friday they took the twins home to the apartment, and Saturday they moved. Chandler didn't remember what time him and Monica had finished unpacking late Saturday night, all he knew was that he had collapsed into bed next to her and had fallen asleep almost at once. The beeping interrupted his last memories and Chandler remembered that neither him or Monica had set an alarm…but there was definitely a beeping coming from somewhere. Chandler started to search the room for a clue as to where he was, his eyes finally having adjusted to the light. It was a very white room, a TV attached to the ceiling in the corner, the bed he was in was weird, was that his old hockey stick in the corner? There was a chair next to him, and now that he was really looking at it, he realized there was someone in the chair, fast asleep.

"Joey!" Chandler tried to yell, knowing what a heavy sleeper he was, but no sound came out of his mouth. It was as though he hadn't used his voice for days, and now that he was trying to use it, he realized how dry his mouth and throat felt and began to cough.

Chandler's sputters and faint cough was enough to rouse Joey. "Oh my God, you're awake! Hang on!" And with that, Joey was gone. Chandler continued to cough wondering where Joey had gone, only hoping that he would come back with some water. Just as Chandler felt he was getting his swallowing and breathing back under control Joey re-entered the room with a second person Chandler didn't recognize in tow.

The man approached Chandler quickly and immediately shone a very bright light into his eyes and began to speak very loudly. "Chandler, my name is Dr. Coleman, try not to speak right now, but I want you to try to answer my questions by shaking your head up and down for 'yes' and back and forth for 'no'. Do you understand?" He asked as he seemed to finish examining Chandler's eyes and put the small light back in his pocket. He looked at Chandler expectantly, and Chandler obediently nodded his head up and down to indicate that he understood. He didn't understand though, it now seemed clear that he was in a hospital, but he had no idea why. Where was Monica? Where were the twins? Chandler could feel the panic begin to rise in his chest, the beeping in the background began to ring in his ears as he realized it was not an alarm but some kind of monitor, what the hell had happened.

Dr. Coleman recognized the panic immediately and rested his hand on Chandler's shoulder to try to reassure him. "Chandler, try to calm down. Everything is okay, and you are okay. You had a small accident a few days ago, do you remember it?" Chandler shook his head from side to side quickly, but immediately began to regret it as spots began to dance in front of his eyes. "Chandler, try to focus on my face, Chandler." Dr. Coleman urged as he recognized Chandler becoming dizzy. "You're coming off of a heavy dosage of drugs right now Chandler, so if you're confused that's okay." Dr. Coleman continued to speak as he reached over to the table next to the bed and began to pour water into a paper cup. "I want you to drink this very slowly, it will help." Dr. Coleman offered the cup to Chandler, and began to speak again, "when you feel like you can, I want you to tell me when your birthday is."

Chandler swallowed the water slowly as instructed, not wanting to begin choking again. As the water trickled down his throat it not only alleviated the dryness in his chest but also seemed to bring some clarity back to his mind. "My birthday is April 8th, 1968." Chandler spoke slowly, still not trusting his own voice. It came out ragged and whispered, but nonetheless he could speak.

Dr. Coleman nodded his head but offered no facial expression to relay whether or not his answer was correct. "Who is the last person you remember being with?" he asked, his face still blank.

"Monica," Chandler answered immediately. "Where is Monica, is she here?" he asked quickly, looking to Joey. Joey's eyes went wide at the question, clearly not expecting to be involved in this process. Joey, not knowing what he should or shouldn't say, looked quickly to Dr. Coleman for help.

Dr. Coleman held his hand up to Joey to keep him from answering and began to speak again, "Chandler, do you remember your accident?" Dr. Coleman knew that Chandler had already answered no, but also knew that patients were capable of recovering memories quickly when coming off of heavy anesthesia.

Chandler racked his memory, but all he could remember was going to sleep with Monica. Maybe because those 72 hours had been some of the most important in his life, maybe that was why they were the last he could remember now. Chandler considered voicing this thought to Dr. Coleman, but decided he didn't want to get ahead of himself when he didn't even know what had happened yet. "No, I don't remember, what happened?" Chandler asked, desperate to try to figure out why he was lying here in this hospital bed. Desperate for any answers, really.

Dr. Coleman decided to go ahead and allow for his patient to be reminded of the accident. This wasn't always the best thing to do, but Dr. Coleman could see that Chandler had regained lucidity, seemed to know who he was with some confidence, and had some sense of who he had been with last, even if he couldn't remember what had happened. "Joey, would you like to tell your friend how he wound up here?" Dr. Coleman asked, knowing that the information would be easier to take from a friend.

Joey swallowed, not expecting to be called on, but shaking his head as a sign that he was willing to take on the task. Joey turned to Chandler, and began to explain the best way he knew how to, "so, you and Mon were going for a run, and I don't know why, but you started to fight. Not like a bad fight, just playing really, and then she pushed you, and you fell, but you hit your head pretty hard on the sidewalk and you passed out. Phoebe and I watched the whole thing 'cause you guys were just right outside of the coffee shop, but we didn't know anything was wrong until Mon came in screaming that you weren't getting up, I guess she thought you had been joking for a minute. We called an ambulance, and when I came out to get a look at ya you were still out. We tried to get you to wake up, but you just wouldn't, it was really scary, man." Joey finished the story, his eyes still slightly larger than they normally were, the memory of what had happened still in the pit of his stomach. He looked over to Dr. Coleman to see if there was anything else that he wanted him to tell Chandler, but Dr. Coleman looked keen to take over the story telling duties from there, which was probably a good thing, because the rest of it had been so terrifying that Joey wasn't sure if he could get through having to tell it.

"Apparently you hit your head pretty hard, Chandler. When the ambulance arrived you began seizing. In fact, you seized the entire way to the hospital, indicating a very severe trauma to your brain. When you arrived, myself along with the head of the neurology department made a decision to put you into an induced coma. The induced coma helped us reduce pressure and swelling in the brain, and gave us some time to figure what was going on without us having to worry about your body's natural metabolic system kicking in. Your CT scan showed some intracranial hemorrhaging, which is what caused your prolonged seizure. We were able to treat the hemorrhaging with some drug therapy, and in combination with your induced coma, you've seemed to have made a full recovery. All of your CT scans look clean, and even though everything I just said sounds pretty scary, I assure you, your scans show no lasting brain damage." Dr. Coleman finished with a smile on his face to help reassure Chandler, knowing full well that the information he just unloaded would be a lot to take in.

Chandler blinked slowly. Induced coma? Intracranial hemorrhaging? Prolonged seizure? No wonder he felt like he could barely move. It didn't make any sense though, when had he been running with Monica. And if they did go running, why were they running outside of the coffee shop, and not in their new neighborhood?

"You okay man, you look confused," Joey asked. Joey didn't know much about medicine, if the doc said Chandler was fine, then Chandler was fine, but he definitely did not look fine right now.

"I just…" Chandler began trying to remember, "why were Monica and I running outside of the coffee house?" Chandler asked.

"Oh," Joey laughed slightly, "See, Phoebe got it in your head that you had gained some weight, so Monica said she'd work out with ya, remember?" Joey asked. "No need to worry though man, you've probably lost like 10lbs over the past 4 days you've been out," he added, laughing slightly at how this whole thing had started over something so stupid.

Chandler wrinkled his forehead as Joey explained why he had been running with Monica in the middle of Greenwich Village. He remembered now, but that couldn't be right. That had been years ago, Chandler couldn't even remember how many years, thats how long it had been. Chandler remembered it exactly, they had been running, and he had stopped to take a breath, which had resulted in a minor physical altercation with Monica, which had resulted in her pushing him to the ground. But he hadn't hit his head, he had gotten back up and had chased her all the way back to the apartments. Chandler suddenly became very aware of the fact that his heart was hammering in his chest.

Dr. Coleman who had been studying Chandler's facial reactions closely while being filled in on what had happened began to notice something was wrong. Chandler's face clearly indicated some kind of panic. "Chandler, is everything alright?" Dr. Coleman, asked concerned.

"What year is it?" Chandler asked, not knowing how else to begin to solve this riddle.

"What year do you think it is?" Dr. Coleman asked, suddenly concerned. While there was no set of behaviors to look for in a patient recovering from brain trauma, this was certainly unusual.

"20.." Chandler began to answer, but stopped himself suddenly. It was clear to Chandler what had happened now. The whole thing had been a dream; some crazy, drug induced, brain hemorrhaging dream. It had felt so real, though, he could swear he could still smell the fabric softener on his and Monica's sheets. Whatever was going on in his head, one thing was for sure, and that was that Chandler wasn't going to figure any of it out if he got himself locked up in a looney bin by telling his doctors that he had traveled to the future in his coma.

"Chandler, what year is it?" Dr. Coleman asked again, more urgent than before. It had been clear that Chandler had been about to answer with a very wrong year.

Chandler racked his brain, trying to remember what year it had been when he had Monica help him to try to lose weight. It didn't help that his brain and body were still recovering from the effects of an induced coma. There had been a party, girls had ignored him, thats when Phoebe said that he had gained weight, and Monica said that she would help him lose it. It was a guy he worked with, Gary, it had been his birthday party, his 30th birthday, which meant Chandler would have been about 27 at the time, which meant that it was 1995, "It's 1995!" Chandler exclaimed, excited that he had been able to force his brain to work.

Dr. Coleman narrowed his eyes at Chandler, trying to figure out what was going through his head. There was something obviously wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, "What's the last date you remember," Dr. Coleman asked, trying to gauge whether or not Chandler was lying.

"Well, I don't like to kiss and tell doc, but it went pretty well, if you know what I mean," Chandler laughed, knowing full well that Dr. Coleman had meant calendar date, but there was no way Chandler was going to remember the actual date, it took him three minutes just to figure out the year. Joey laughed along with Chandler, apparently reassured by the return of Chandler's sense of humor that he was going to be just fine.

Dr. Coleman continued to stare at Chandler, but decided against pressing the issue. "Okay, Chandler. Here's the deal, we get to keep you for another 24hrs, just to make sure that you're okay, and then you get to go home with the giant crowd I've had sleeping in my visitors lounge for the past four days."

"Who's here?" Chandler asked, confused that there should be a crowd of people just for him.

Dr. Coleman smiled, "Mr. Tribbiani can have a few more minutes with you and then you can see for yourself, one at a time, please. I'll be back to check on your vitals in about an hour." Dr. Coleman walked out of the room, allowing Joey to jump on to Chandler's bed in a heap of excitement.

"Everybody's here, dude!" Joey exclaimed, a giant smile plastered to his face. "Your mom and your uhhh…dad flew in, we've had to keep them on opposite sides of the room. Mr. and Mrs. Gellar have been in and out, Carol and Susan have been by with Ben a ton, and you've had a bunch of coworkers come by to see ya."

Chandler couldn't believe it. It may have been 8 years ago in his head, but he couldn't remember being that popular. "Geez, Joe, what'd you guys think I was gonna die or something?" Chandler asked, laughing slightly. When Joey didn't laugh with him, Chandler looked up and saw that Joey's faced had changed quickly from one of excitement to one of someone who just lost their puppy. That's when Chandler realized, "Oh wow, you guys thought I was going to die?"

"No one would tell us what was going to happen. They didn't know how bad the damage was until all the swelling went down, and that was just yesterday. We uh, we just didn't know," Joey continued, looking down, not wanting Chandler to see the moisture that had formed in the corners of his eyes.

"Hey man, I'm alright," Chandler said, patting Joey on the shoulder for reassurance. Although Chandler wasn't 100% sure that he was alright. Sure, he had managed to recover full function of his body now, and it seemed like most of the drugs were finally letting up a little, but he was definitely still off. Didn't most dreams sorta fade away after you woke up? It seemed to Chandler that most of the dreams he had ever had seemed to trickle away with each passing second after waking, but this weird future dream didn't seem to want to budge. "Hey, is Monica here?" Chandler asked suddenly, knowing somehow that if he could just see her, he would be able to convince himself that it wasn't real.

"Yeah, are ya kidding? She hasn't left your side since you knocked out. We flipped a coin to see who could wait with you while they pulled you out of the coma. Boy, she was not happy about losing that coin toss," Joey laughed.

"Yeah, I bet," Chandler laughed too at the thought of Monica throwing a temper tantrum over a coin toss. "Can you go get her?" Chandler asked with an eagerness building inside his whole body. He wasn't sure why, but Chandler just knew that as soon as he saw Monica he would forget all about his stupid dream.

"Alright man, I'll go send her," Joey said, getting up off of Chandler's bed. When he reached the door Joey stopped for just a moment before bolting back to Chandler's bedside and throwing his arms around his best friend. He quickly pulled himself together and walked back to the door and walked out of the room without saying another word.

Chandler laughed quietly to himself. He must have had his friends pretty worried, but did they really think that he might die? Chandler wasn't so sure, Joey had a tendency of overreacting during dramatic situations. Chandler was pulled from his thoughts by a soft knock on his door, "come in," he answered. The door opened and Chandler's heart jumped straight into his throat. Monica looked so different than how he had just seen her in his head. Despite the differences, there was no denying it, this was the woman that Chandler was completely head over heels in love with. So much for it being just a dream.


	2. Chapter 2

Chandler swallowed hard as he watched Monica enter his room. He felt like he was falling in love and having his heart broken at the same time. Chandler knew it was all in his head, but it was just so real. There was a part of him that just wanted to scream and throw things, knowing that it wasn't real, knowing that she didn't feel the same way about him. Looking at her now, her eyes, her lips - he could swear that he had tasted those lips at least a million times. Chandler could feel his heart beating wildly against his chest, and prayed that she wouldn't hear it as she came closer to his bedside. Only now that she was close did Chandler realize that there was something wrong with her. She wasn't herself. She seemed, subdued, apprehensive even, her eyes refusing to meet his. "Monica, what's wrong, are you okay?" Chandler asked, taking her hand out of habit. He quickly scolded himself, how could it be a habit, it wasn't real!

Monica sniffled a small laugh, "You're lying here in a hospital bed, and you ask me how I'm doing?" Monica finally looked up into Chandler's face and collapsed into a mess of tears against his chest, hugging him close. "I'm so sorry Chandler! I swear I didn't mean to hurt you! When you didn't get up, oh God, I'm just so sorry!" Monica sobbed into his chest, crying freely for the first time since the accident. Her friends had tried to assure her that Chandler hitting his head had not been her fault, that it was a freak accident. But Monica had insisted on carrying her torch of guilt, not allowing anyone to comfort her or offer reassurance. Instead she focused all of her energy on Chandler. She became well acquainted with the entire hospital staff on his floor, ensuring that all of his needs were being met. She had arranged for both of his parents to come up, and had personally seen to it that everyone in his office was notified and that Chandler had received the full benefit of a medical leave of absence. She had even brought over a few of his favorite things to place into his room so he would have something familiar to look at when he woke up, although the head RN didn't want to allow the hockey stick in the room, Monica had insisted it be there when he open his eyes.

Chandler slowly rubbed Monica's back as she cried onto his chest, softly shushing her like a child. He remembered vividly having just done this with his infant son what felt like only hours before; and now here he was, a childless, single man. Chandler shook his head, trying to shake the false memory free, and returning his focus to the woman crying in his arms. "Mon, its okay, its not your fault," he whispered comfortingly.

"Of course its my fault!" Monica sobbed, "I pushed you, I almost killed you!" She cried even harder at the thought of having lost her best friend.

"Hey Monica," Chandler said, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her up to look at him, "I'm okay, you didn't hurt me, and you didn't kill me. I hit my head on that sidewalk because I'm a clumsy idiot and I tripped over my own feet, not because you pushed me too hard, we were playing. Okay?" As he stared into her watery eyes it took all of his willpower not to lean in and kiss her. He'd kissed away her tears before; when they had gotten engaged, when they found out that they couldn't conceive, when he had gotten Erica to agree to let them adopt her baby. This was definitely wrong, it had not been a dream, Chandler was sure of it. Dream's were supposed to quickly slip away, like sand through your fingers. This was growing stronger in his mind, becoming more clear and defined with each passing minute. He didn't realize he was still holding Monica in front of him, staring intently in her eyes.

Monica was finally beginning to allow herself to feel comforted by the only person who could do it. With Chandler's words, Monica's guilt slowly began to recede, like the waves of an angry tsunami slowly rolling back to sea. As Monica smiled softly at Chandler's kind words she let herself look at him for the first time since walking into his room. Her brow furrowed as she studied Chandler's face, she was almost startled by what she saw. She had looked at his face at least a million times in her life, but it was unmistakably different now. He stared at her now with an intensity she had never seen in him before, an intensity she had never seen in any man before. And then it was gone. Chandler released Monica from his hold, and she felt her shoulders slump slightly at the sudden burden of having to hold herself up without the assistance of Chandler's strong hands. Monica watched as Chandler turned his head sharply, suddenly very interested in his lamp. "Chandler, are you okay?" Monica asked cautiously, she couldn't put her finger on it, but he was definitely different.

Chandler quickly looked back at her, pushing his memories of a future that didn't really exist to the back of his head. "Who me?" Chandler asked playfully. "I have more drugs in my system right now than a Columbian drug lord, I'm fantastic."

Monica laughed, wiping a few of the stray tears from her face. Within seconds Chandler had seemingly transformed back to his old self again. Maybe it was just the drugs after all. Monica smiled softly at him, only looking away when there was a knock at the door.

Ross poked his head in through the small crack he had made in the door, "Hey, the rest of us would like a turn too, ya know."

"Oh, alright," Monica conceded, removing herself from Chandler's bed. She looked at Chandler and pointed her finger threateningly at him, "you better not go anywhere, I'll be waiting for you right out there," she said with as much warning in her voice she could manage without sounding angry.

"I'm counting on it," Chandler replied, not able to help himself. He watched as Monica left the room, looking back at him curiously one last time before closing the door behind Ross.

Ross took a seat in the empty chair next to Chandler's bed, leaning forward while resting his elbows on his knees, his face in his hands. "You had us really worried there, buddy," Ross offered a small smile.

"Well, what can I say, you guys know how much I hate running," Chandler joked weakly, trying to regulate his heart beat now that Monica had left the room.

Ross smiled at Chandler's attempted joke, "I'm just glad you're okay man."

Chandler looked at Ross curiously, taking into account the serious nature of his tone, "Jeez Ross, you guys all make it sound like you were picking out tombstones for me." Chandler watched as Ross reacted to these words by looking down at the ground and rubbing the toe of his shoe against the floor as though he was trying to remove a scuff. When Ross didn't respond, Chandler decided to press the issue, "Ross, seriously, what happened? Why did you guys have my parents come out here?"

Ross looked up to face Chandler, "didn't the doctor explain what happened?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, he explained the induced coma and the hemorrhaging, but, I don't know…I guess, he kinda made it sound like everything had been under control. I mean, I'm fine now, so they must've known what they were doing, right?" Chandler asked.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, it was just kinda scary watching it, that's all." Ross shrugged, staring in the opposite direction of the room.

Chandler felt like Ross was holding back, but couldn't push himself to be too concerned. He was still trying to figure out how eight years of his supposed future had ended up in his head with no apparent explanation other than it being a very vivid dream. There had to be a way to test it, to see if the things that he 'remembered' were real, or just imagined.

Slowly, one by one, everyone Chandler had ever cared about filtered in and out of his room to see for themselves that he was okay. His dad had cried, and made him promise that they would talk more, Chandler agreed, with every intention of keeping his promise. HIs mom on the other hand didn't cry, but pulled Chandler close and stroked his hair like she had when he was small. Phoebe played Chandler a new song that she had written just for him, although it was to the tune of 'If I Only Had a Brain' from the Wizard of Oz, and shared quite a few of the same lyrics. Rachel apologized profusely for not coming to the hospital until the morning after the accident. Apparently she had been out on a date, another failed attempt to move past Ross, and had gotten relatively drunk. Chandler assured her that he didn't mind, although her story had triggered a faint memory. Something about a message left on an answering machine.

"Hey Rach, did you make any calls from the restaurant?" Chandler asked, suddenly anxious.

"Calls from the restaurant? No, wha-" and then she paused, her own memories suddenly starting to flicker, "Wait, I didn't call you, did I?" Rachel asked, trying to remember.

"Uh, no, I was here," Chandler reminded her.

Rachel gasped and rose from her chair next to Chandler's bed, suddenly remembering.

"There it is," Chandler muttered to himself. So it wasn't imagined. Maybe it was a coincidence, Chandler tried to reason with himself.

"Oh my God, I called Ross! I left him a message! Oh my God, I have to get to his answering machine before he can hear it!"

"Uh Rach, I hate to tell ya this, but Ross went home about twenty minutes ago."

"What?! Nooooo! Why did you let him leave?!" Rachel asked, now pacing around the room.

"My bad," Chandler muttered again, watching Rachel have a full blown panic attack, but all the while wondering what it all meant. He remembered the whole scenario that to him felt like it had taken place a lifetime ago, but in reality was only now just happening. Rachel had left a message for Ross while she had been drunk, telling him that she was over him. Ross heard it, found out that Rachel had feelings for him, and had finally kissed Rachel. This had of course led to the pro's and con's list that Chandler had stupidly suggested to Ross that he make to help him pick between Rachel and Julie. The list helped Ross decide to break up with Julie, but had also effectively ruined things with Rachel when she found the list. Well, thought Chandler, he definitely wouldn't suggest a pro's and con's list this time, that was for sure. But wait, Chandler stopped himself. Should he really be messing with anything, he wondered. What if he inadvertently created some sort of butterfly effect that would do something crazy like prevent him and Monica from getting together? But then things were already different, he reasoned. He hadn't knocked himself out in his memory of him and Monica running together, so things had already changed. There was no rhyme or reason to any of this, Chandler decided.

"What does this mean Chandler?!" Rachel yelled, shaking Chandler from his own thoughts.

"Huh?" Chandler asked stupidly, "I don't know, what does what mean?" He asked again, trying to remember where Rachel left off in her rant.

"What does it mean for me and Ross if he hears the message? What do you think he'll do?" Rachel asked, desperately pleading for some kind of answer from Chandler.

Chandler smiled, more to himself than to Rachel. "Rach, Ross has been crazy about you since high school. He might be shell shocked for a few minutes, but I think we all know what he's going to do."

Rachel approached the bed and wrapped her arms around Chandler, "Thank you, Chandler," she whispered.

"Your welcome," Chandler answered back against her hair. He let her go, and she waved goodbye as she walked out of Chandler's room to go deal with the repercussions of her drunken message. As soon as she was gone Chandler let his head fall back and hit his pillow. He squinted his eyes shut, trying to process the last few hours. He pulled his hands to his eyes, and rubbing them slowly began to open them again. Chandler immediately noticed his hospital identification bracelet, a simple white, plastic bracelet with his name on it, attached to him while he had been unconscious. As he shut his eyes again his mind shifted to the memory of a nurse attaching both a blue and pink bracelet to his wrist; 'Baby Bing Boy' had been printed on the blue bracelet while the pink read 'Baby Bing Girl'. Chandler's eyes began to water slightly at the memory. All at once the reality of what was happening hit him. Even if the message Rachel had left on Ross' machine hadn't been a coincidence, and there was some premonition like quality to what Chandler had experienced, there was no guarantee to any of it. There was a chance that he would live the rest of his life without Monica by his side. Chandler immediately shook his head at the thought of it. He wouldn't allow it, and that was that. He didn't care what it took, he would do everything in his power to make sure that Monica and him ended up together.

Chandler was released from the hospital, as promised, the following day. He had been through two more CT Scans before he left, and was scheduled to return in a few days for more follow-up testing, but Dr. Coleman had assured Chandler and his friends that everything seemed completely normal, and that Chandler should be fine. Chandler had not, however, disclosed to the doctor, or anyone else for that matter, that he had not just seen, but had somehow lived, his own future during his coma; so Chandler couldn't quite agree that he was 100% normal.

It all felt so wrong, as he opened the door to his and Joey's apartment. Every fiber in his body told him that he didn't live there anymore, that he hadn't lived there for years. As he lay down in his bed, his mind raced with memories of things that hadn't happened yet. Chandler didn't know what to do with it all. He hadn't seen Ross or Rachel since their visits the day before in the hospital, so he wasn't sure if more of his memories were becoming a reality. He was more concerned about what he should do about Monica. At some point he had realized that in his coma future (as he was now referring to it in his head) he and Monica had not gotten together for another three years, and in those three years she had dated both Richard and Pete, and several other guys less seriously. He was quite sure that there was absolutely no way he could wait it out, and he was definitely sure that he would not be able to watch her be with other guys, even if he did know in the back of his head that they would end up together. His mind was settled, he would have to find a way to have Monica fall in love with him three years earlier than scheduled, he just needed to figure out how. Chandler allowed himself some sleep that night, although he felt restless. Every time he closed his eyes he saw a future that was starting to feel farther and farther away. When 7am rolled around he decided to stay in bed even though it was a Wednesday. His boss had assured him that he would not have to return to work until the following week, so Chandler stayed put, not quite sure what to do with himself. Chandler thought he would maybe go over to the University around lunch time to see Ross, maybe he would be able to find out what had happened with him and Rachel. That was when he remembered that Ross didn't work at NYU yet, he was still at the museum. Chandler groaned in frustration, he couldn't tell real memories from the ones that only existed in his head, and he felt as though it was keeping his mind in a perpetual state of fog. It didn't help that Chandler was fighting off an overwhelming sense of loss that kept creeping into the pit of his stomach. As he lay in bed, trying to sort through reality and non-reality, he couldn't help but feel as though a part of him was grieving. He felt as though he had spent the past eight years working so hard to get the things he had never thought he could have; a job he loved, a wife who was his whole world, two beautiful kids - and in an instant it was all gone. Chandler's racing mind was interrupted by a knock on his door. He begrudgingly rolled out of bed, prepared to tell Joey to let him be for the rest of the day, but was surprised to see Monica standing in his doorway instead.

"Hey," she said softly, offering a cautious smile.

"Hey," he replied, not really sure of what else to say in return. Chandler could think of about a million things he wanted to say, but knew that any one of them would most likely send her running for the phone to call the psych ward on him. She was beautiful, he noticed, even first thing in the morning, her hair just barely combed, and wearing an oversized sweatshirt and flannel pants. His mind quickly registered that this Monica was different than his wife. She was obviously younger, but somehow softer and more fragile than she had been when she was his. Despite the fact that his mind was well aware of the differences between the two Monica's, his heart seemed blissfully unaware. There was no doubt that Chandler loved her, as she stood now in front of him, ignorant to the internal struggle that Chandler was waging on himself.

Monica didn't expect to find herself so shy when she came over to check on Chandler. But now that she stood here in his doorway, she found herself staring at someone who again seemed different than the Chandler she knew. His eyes were heavy, he clearly hadn't slept well, but there was something else behind them that seemed to drag them down. And again, she was overwhelmed by the intensity that seemed to roll off of him in waves as he stared at her expectantly. She stuttered as she began to explain why she was disturbing him, "I uh…I was just worried when you, when you didn't come over with Joey for breakfast." Monica looked down to avoid the heaviness in Chandler's eyes.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Chandler started to apologize, running his hand through his unkempt hair. "I didn't sleep all that well, so I thought I'd just skip it." He had picked up on her body language immediately, and realized that he was making her uncomfortable. Chandler tried to remember what acting natural was like before he had fallen in love with her, but quickly realized that this was like asking himself to remember how to behave before he had learned to walk. Falling in love with Monica had been such a life altering event that his mind couldn't recall the small nuances that had made him different before, and more than anything Chandler understood that he didn't want to remember. Even as he stood here now, practically making her so uncomfortable that she couldn't even speak, he knew he never wanted to figure out how to be 'just friend's' with Monica ever again.

"Well, I'm sorry for just barging in," Monica began hastily, now trying to find a way to escape this awkward fog that had fallen over them, "I guess I just wanted to make sure you ate a good breakfast, but you should definitely try to get some more rest if you didn't sleep well," she was rambling and she knew it, and so she slowly started to walk backwards towards the front door as she continued, "maybe if you're hungry later I can make you something, you know, whatever you want, but I'll let you get some more rest, so I guess I'll see you later," her hand reached for the door knob to Joey and Chandler's front door and she pulled herself out of the apartment with a sloppy wave and a smile that she knew looked unnatural. As Monica slammed the door closed behind her she leaned against it with her eyes closed, wondering what in the hell had just happened. Why was she all of a sudden so nervous to be around Chandler? Monica had felt this way when visiting him the other day in the hospital too, but had brushed off the tension she had felt as a result of the guilt that she had been piling on herself from the accident. Monica was sure that she didn't still feel guilty; well, at least not like she had before. But there was definitely an awkwardness now that was between them, and she wasn't sure where it had come from. Monica sighed as she headed back to her apartment. She didn't know what was going on with Chandler, but she really hoped that whatever it was wouldn't destroy their friendship.


End file.
